Teacher struck off after admitting sexual relationship with student, 17

The relationship between the student and teacher was discovered by the student's teacher, who alerted the school principal. Photo / 123RF

A teacher has been censured and has lost his registration after having a sexual relationship with a student.

The man and his 17-year-old student developed a close relationship during the 2015 school year, according to a New Zealand Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal decision.

They then spent a lot of time together when she visited the teacher over the school holidays with the intention of discussing career options.

After five days in a row of visits, the pair acknowledged they liked each other a lot and kissed.

They remained in frequent contact over the remainder of the summer holidays and on the weekend of Valentine's Day 2016, they had sex in a hotel room booked by the teacher, according to the tribunal finding.

"Eventually the relationship became sexual. They exchanged messages through Facebook professing their affection for each other."

The relationship between the pair - whose names were suppressed, along with the name and location of the school - was discovered by the student's mother.

She told the school's principal and when an investigation began the teacher admitted the sexual relationship and that he knew it was wrong.

"[He told the principal] he knew it was 'not something we should be doing', but his heart got the better of his head."

He signed a voluntary undertaking not to teach, with immediate effect. He also expressed sorrow for the effect the relationship had on the student during her last year of school.

In a hearing addressing the man's serious misconduct, the tribunal found the penalty imposed could not be avoided.

"Given the gravity of his misconduct, a penalty falling short of cancellation would simply not suffice."